The highlight of the Xperia SP is a 4.6in 720p HD display with a resolution of 1280x720. The screen uses Sony's Reality Display and Mobile Bravia engine technology, claiming to enhance sharpness, contrast and colour saturation of photos and videos while also minimising digital image noise.

Sony claims the Xperia SP uses a "precision-crafted co-moulded aluminium frame" and a physical camera shutter key is a nice inclusion for those who use the camera regularly.

A transparent panel below the screen displays customisable notifications and users can personalise these notification lights to alert of incoming calls and text messages.

The Xperia SP is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, has 1GB of RAM and includes 8GB of internal memory. A microSD card allows the memory to be expanded and there's also built-in NFC connectivity and an 8-megapixel camera.

The Xperia SP is available in black, metallic red and metallic white variants but Virgin Mobile appears to be selling the black model only.